Your Return to Freedom: A Practical Guide to Finding Lasting Inner Peace

By Nigel B Patterson

You ARE a magnificent, spiritual being. What is stopping you from fully living this? Perhaps you feel trapped or confused—knowing there must be something more, but you can’t quite figure it out? Or you sense a more-powerful YOU, just waiting to break free, but you’re not sure how to proceed?

Your

• Language: English
• Publisher: SpiritPower Media
• Release date: Apr 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781732044715

Nigel B Patterson

Nigel B. Patterson was born in Tanzania, Africa and has lived in four countries across three continents. A significant life-crisis at the age of thirty-five shattered his carefully constructed ego-based self, and propelled him onto the path of the spiritual warrior. Today he is a counsellor, coach and spiritual teacher living in Hawaii. He supports clients around the globe in their quest for freedom.

Book preview

PART ONE

Being Human

I come to the garden, unknowing

And look around

Her beauty remains hidden in the recesses of the mind

Until stilled

As the cloak of the self is removed

Awareness presents herself

At first through ideas and images

And then through feelings and oneness

She welcomes me as a friend would

Without conditions or judgment

But in her wisdom she knows

That I have a long road to travel

With patience she waits

And supports me

As she had done for the others who have trod the same path Without reservation

Her embrace is gentle and complete

Her faces many

And each place I turn

I see her waiting

Nigel B. Patterson

Introduction

Have you noticed: society is going through a collective quickening? Time appears to be speeding up? The pace of information transfer has increased exponentially to the point of feeling over- whelming? Previously agreed upon facts are being questioned, and in many instances discarded in favor of new collective agreements? The keepers of knowledge are often being challenged and labelled elitists? Perhaps you wonder: whose knowledge is it in any case? Where does wisdom fit into all of this? What is the connection between knowledge, information and wisdom? And does it really matter?

You are not alone in noticing and wondering about these things.

With this quickening, it feels that we each are expected to process an ever-increasing mountain of data from constantly emerging new sources. Where do we find the time to convert this data into meaningful information, let alone guiding wisdom? Do we simply opt out of life, or are we here on the planet at this time of seeming chaos for a specific reason?

If at times you are feeling exhausted, you are not alone. If giving up seems to be the only option, keep reading! There is a way out.

At some point in their lives, most people feel trapped by the system, but are unable to define what the system is. This unseen jailer is causing extraordinary stress for many. We may ask ourselves, how do we break free if we are unaware what it is we are trying to break free from? And what does freedom look like?

Introducing the Journey

Freedom is an elusive thing. Likely, everyone defines it differently, based on their own experiences of life. However, probably most would agree that it at least contains an element of finding a sense  of inner peace—you are in the flow and life no longer feels like a struggle. Your Return to Freedom is about rediscovering that inner stillness, no matter what that may mean for you.

This book takes you on a journey. Like any good story, it has a beginning, a middle and an end.

We start our journey together in Part 1. Here we explore how and why we lost our freedom in the first place. This happens to all of us, to some degree or another. Just being born human means we are not immune from losing a part of who we are. On our quest to reclaim our missing parts, we journey through a complex landscape exploring Power, and why this is so important if we are to rediscover our true natures.

Armed with a greater awareness of our modern environment, in Part 2 we dive into the elements that make up the very predictable journey we each undertake from birth. For the first time, a unique and practical model will be presented describing the path to find lasting inner peace.

Initially, we explore this from an observer’s perspective, meaning we first become familiar with the path we each must walk, before inserting ourselves directly into the story. By doing this, we have clarity where freedom lies and how to get there. It also helps us identify where we, and others, are on our journeys to reclaiming freedom. It is here we learn useful tools to help us step onto the path to freedom. And our awareness grows even stronger as we become better people.

Part 3 is about reclaiming your own freedom, your birth-right. By now you know where you are on your journey to finding freedom. Additional tools and techniques are presented to make this endeavor easier, enabling you to short circuit the often-painful process many go through to find their inner peace. With practice and discipline, you will reclaim your freedom. And in so doing, you will return home to a place where you can be who you truly are.

Who Is This Book For?

There are several audiences for this book. If you relate to any one of them, then this book is for you. It will hopefully bring meaning and clarity to issues you may be dealing with. However, if you do not relate personally to any of the intended audiences, you most likely will know someone close to you who does. Please use the information in this book to support them, or share the book with them.

1.  You are feeling trapped in the system or have a sense of confusion or loss of meaning. Life has become dull. You are bored. It is increasingly attractive to become addicted to external distractions. Deep inside you know there is more  to all of this but are unsure what that phrase really means or what to do about it. At some level you sense that if this is not addressed, crisis could easily occur with potentially devastating outcomes. Your religious beliefs may no longer serve you as they once did. Instead they begin to feel more like coconspirators keeping you trapped in a world of guilt and fear. For too long you have been obedient to how others expect you to behave. Your desire for self-expression, for freedom, is gnawing away inside. You have a knowing that to grow, to reach your full potential, you may need to make some difficult choices. It is your birthright to find peace. You want to know how to get to freedom and no longer be con- trolled by others.

2. The relationships you are in, while perhaps loving and supportive, are not totally fulfilling. You have this sense that there is something missing. It is me that has the problem, you tell your partner. But that means nothing to you or to your partner because neither of you know what is behind this. And you most likely are unaware that your partner is going through a similar dis-ease. You may have already been through several relationships and are still searching for that illusive Mr. or Ms. Right. As self-administered therapy, you become distracted by and quickly addicted to the material and electronic worlds. Social media replaces real relationships.

3. Your sense of who you are as a sexual being is confusing.  In a world of increasingly fluid sexual identities, this can be quite confrontational. Why are some able to move through these ambiguities so much easier than others, you may be asking? What is my sexual identity, my own gender expression and what does my ideal mate look like? You may be feeling incredibly alone and confused in figuring this out in a world going through its death throes dominated by its dying patriarchal, or old-school leaders. How much longer can the old-fashioned models of what constitutes expected behavior for a man and a woman survive? Why do so many men crave power? What is this power, anyway? Why do some women wish to compete against men on masculine terms? How does this translate into sexual energies and the gender roles people are unwittingly playing? Unless this is understood, resolved and inner peace is attained where judgment and discrimination from others no longer affects you, you may be a danger to both yourself and others. This book touches on aspects around the very complex issue of sexual orientation, and what it means for those who may be struggling to fit into the world. It may support them to find their inner peace.

4. On the other hand, you may have already experienced an Appointment in Power and now want to understand it. You’ve had an experience, a conversation, an encounter that seemed magnificently powerful, intense and meaningful, perhaps in a time or place you weren’t expecting such. If this is familiar, you’ll be glad to know that Chapter 2 of this book goes into detail on why this happens and what it may mean

Unless an individual has been through a deep and intense process of inner reflection and transformation, one or more of the issues above will most likely be at play in his or her life. Those who have done their work will know that the work is never truly finished. On the other hand, those who declare to the world they don’t need any of this stuff are most likely in denial. They are the ones who need it more than anyone else.

Despite how it may seem at times, freedom and happiness are each of our birthright, but for reasons we will explore, many are un- able to claim it.

We shall examine the major drivers keeping us in a state of fear- based denial, and how to break free from them. As we become liberated through doing our own work we stand ready to support others as they work to attain their freedom.

Provided we each remain in a place free of judgment of both ourselves and others, the world transforms into a far brighter and happy place. Life becomes so much easier to cope with. It is only when we judge the world around us that we need to defend our view of that world. It is even worse when we drop into a place of personal denial. We may feel directly threatened, our integrity is at stake, or so we tell ourselves, and we aggressively feel a need to justify our beliefs and behaviors. This is utter folly, but we are often unaware of this. Protecting our fears often consumes an enormous amount of energy, or personal power, which can be put to far better use in transforming ourselves, or supporting others through their transformation. When we awaken to the beauty of who we really are, happiness follows, together with a sense of meaning and purpose.

Why Now?

It is not the intention of this book to become a commentary on our current political climate. However, it is impossible to discuss the topic of Power without referring to the political climate in which we currently find ourselves. Fear, prejudice and discrimination are at risk of becoming normalized behaviors.

In the United States, where I currently live, we hear it is the middle-class white male which is driving this movement. This may or may not be true. It does not really matter. What is instead more important is why this is happening? Where is this fear coming from? What is fueling this fear? We are hearing populist arguments for why this fear exists, such as fear of immigrants stealing working class jobs, fear of terrorism when in fact more Americans are killed each year by toddlers accidentally firing guns than are killed through acts of terrorism. We do not even know what terrorism means any more. We are building walls to keep imaginary enemies out, not controlling guns which are killing our imaginary enemies within. Who is it we are trying to protect ourselves from? What is it that is making us feel uncomfortable within ourselves? What order is it that is threatening to break down? It is well researched and extensively documented that once we find a state of inner peace, our outer world begins to reflect that same peace. Walls and guns become unnecessary. Surely this is what we should instead be striving for?

Several years ago, I was sitting in a mall in South Africa waiting for my elderly mother to complete her shopping when a Buddhist Monk approached and asked if he may sit down. The conversation quickly turned to global affairs. What stood out from our interaction was his comment about the US. He said, The underlying energy that pervades the whole of the US today is paranoia. He must have seen the puzzled look on my face and thus continued, Yes, since the attacks of 9/11 the US has dropped into an almost psychotic state of fear. But Americans seem to be unsure what they are afraid of. And then he left.

This brief encounter with a man I do not know has kept me thinking for some time. What is it that many in the US are so afraid of? And is this paranoia unique to the US?

As we shall discover, current American paranoia is a fear that is being exploited by an increasingly desperate minority: mostly by those who are urgently clinging to a disintegrating patriarchal system. That we are moving into a more matriarchal era is nothing new. To be clear, this is not a male or female thing. Both men and women are equally capable of embracing both patriarchal and matriarchal energies. Creative artists are often the first to express this shift through their work, long before the majority awakens. In the late 1960’s, the rock musical Hair began alerting us to the dawning of the age of Aquarius, this being the matriarchal age that follows the patriarchal Piscean era. This is a slow transition with its full force being felt during the first few decades of this millennium.

This book will explore what this means from an energetic perspective, and why those entrenched in their old Piscean modes are finding the transition so difficult.  These are practical issues, not some esoteric mumbo jumbo. And they play out in the stage of world politics. Closer to home, they reveal themselves as domestic violence and sexual abuse, among other things.

The Changing Times

We are transitioning through an astrological age. This causes significant changes on the planet. Each astrological age lasts for approximately 2,000 years. An astrological age is a time period in astrological theory which astrologers claim parallels major changes in the development of Earth’s inhabitants, particularly relating to culture, society, and politics. The transition from one age to the next is gradual, but unavoidable.

The Piscean age which we are leaving was characterized by strong religious influences, especially from Christianity. It was highly patriarchal, dominated by male energy. In contrast, the Aquarian era which we are now well into, is associated with digital